Calculating calories in homemade Greek/strained yogurt

I feel like this may be obvious, but I tried Googling and couldn't figure it out. I make 1% yogurt at home, but it is quite thin due to the lower fat content. As such, I strain the yogurt so that it's thicker (and tastier). I know that Greek yogurt is better than regular yogurt due to the protein, fat, sugars, etc., but I can't seem to figure out how to calculate the exact calories in my homemade stuff because most of what is available is for Greek yogurt that's 11% or Greek yogurt that's fat-free. Help? Thanks!
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Replies

  • Kitiara47
    Kitiara47 Posts: 235
    Since it's homemade, did you try making a recipe under the food tab? You can add all the ingredients you used and it will calculate for you.
  • fitzie63
    fitzie63 Posts: 508 Member
    Is your recipe totally NON-FAT? If so, you might try to contact FAGEusa at: By Phone or Fax:

    Call 1-518-762-5912
    Fax 1-518-762-5918
    9 a.m. to 5 p.m., eastern time,
    Monday through Friday

    I buy the large container of FAGE non-fat, plain at Costco now instead of getting the individual flavored ones already prepared. I try to keep berries (blueberries, raspberries, dark cherries, blackberries) in the freezer in little zip lock sandwich (individual serving sizes) so I can toss some with the yogurt into my little magic bullet blender. I add pure vanilla, Truvia and cinnamon. It beats cheating on ice cream all to pieces for me. Because it's high protein, I don't get hungry.
  • clrrrr
    clrrrr Posts: 261 Member
    That won't help her with the removal part of the process...I'd say just treat it as normal 1% strained yogurt by the ounce. If you think you're being thorough. Or you can weigh the whey that gets strained off and subtract that from the nutrients of regular 1% yogurt.
  • photorific
    photorific Posts: 577 Member
    Whole milk is 4% fat. I'd start with a FF Greek Yogurt as the basis of the entry, then note how many grams of fat are in a Whole Milk Greek Yogurt and divide by 4. Add the corresponding number of fat g/calories to the non-fat entry (9 calories per g of fat). Hopefully this makes sense...
  • kskroch
    kskroch Posts: 288 Member
    Yogurt is very easy to make - I use 'Euro Cuisine Automatic Yogurt Maker' - you can find it on Amazon, this company also has a good culture.

    I have access to a family farm so I can get real, whole, raw milk. I was wondering how to count the calories also.
  • rowdylibrarian
    rowdylibrarian Posts: 251 Member
    bump
  • I'm having the same issue. We made yogurt in the crockpot with whole milk (only bc we feared anything less wouldn't be thick enough, as store bought yogurt is made with whole milk) & used a greek yogurt starter. & we still had a lot to strain off of it. So much so that it took several hours to strain completely. I haven't the slightest clue on how to figure my calories. I'd really like to know bc it's one of my favorite snacks.
  • blackiris49
    blackiris49 Posts: 128 Member
    If you know the values for the original/starting yogurt, measure and compare the starting weight/volume to the final weight/volume.
    If starting = 500g and final =250g you know to just valuesx2 etc. This is assuming that the drained whey/water itself has no nutritional values!
    Is this right?
  • reptilegrrl
    reptilegrrl Posts: 24 Member
    No, it isn't right: whey drained off has protein and sugars itself. It is not just water.
  • fage and chobani have 2% plain, make yours approximately between 2% and fat-free.
  • sullykat
    sullykat Posts: 461 Member
    Ok, I did this myself just yesterday!

    It is very confusing, but will be worth it.

    Calculate total calories and macros in the tub of yogurt you used based on the label and the weight it says on the packaging, and figure out how many servings you get out of one package. I got 11.5 out of mine, based on the serving size the label suggested.

    Get the nutritional info for liquid whey. I got it from self nutrition data, the non sweetened one. Measure out how much total liquid whey you have left over in cups, and multiply by quantity that is given on the website (I believe if you go with the one I used, it is per 1 cup. I got 2.5 cups out of mine, so that would be for instance 53.5 calories x 2.5 cups, and do this with all the macros you want to track).

    Subtract calories and macros you calculated above for whey from your original yogurt calculations. Then devide the totals by how many servings you get out of a tub.

    Measure out how much strained yogurt you have total, and devide that by how many servings you get out of the original tub, this will give you the amout that one serving is. My original yogurt was a 175g serving, after I strained it, it was 74g

    I hope this all made sense.
  • Alliwan
    Alliwan Posts: 1,245 Member
    I make 2% yogurt in the crockpot and it comes out thick and creamy. I use Fage 2% plain on my diary. i know its not exact but i kinow its close so it works for me.
  • BigGuy47
    BigGuy47 Posts: 1,768 Member
    I make 2% yogurt in the crockpot and it comes out thick and creamy. I use Fage 2% plain on my diary. i know its not exact but i kinow its close so it works for me.
    I do this, except I use Chobani for my diary entry. Meh, it's close enough.
  • elitegifts2001
    elitegifts2001 Posts: 1 Member
    So after searching and searching for a way to caculate my calories for my homeade greek yogurt...with no luck. finally came up with this and I think its got to be pretty close!

    I add up my total calories that I start with.
    example: one gallon 1% milk. 16 servings x 110 per serving = 1760.
    one small container fat free plain greek yogurt = 100

    total start= 1860

    after the process/ straining whey. measure the whey that is discarded. I strained about 8 cups of whey from my yogurt.

    whey is 59 cal. per cup x my 8 cups = 472

    take your beginning calories 1860 - 472 for the discarded whey= 1388 caloeies left

    now, there is 1388 calories in your batch of greek yogurt.

    I divided my batch into one cup servings and I had about 9 cups so divide calories!

    1388/9= 154 calories per cup! if course everyones will vary depending on what type if milk you start with and how long you drain it...but its pretty easy to calculate :)
  • minizebu
    minizebu Posts: 2,716 Member
    Bumping, as I am considering purchasing a yogurt maker. (I eat so much yogurt, and I'm curious about making it at home.) I was wondering how to calculate the calorie and macro content of a homemade yogurt.

    Thank you to elitegifts200 for doing the legwork on the process for determining the calculation.
  • mom24uk
    mom24uk Posts: 54 Member
    bumping for later :)
  • Amestris
    Amestris Posts: 152 Member
    Bumping for later use
  • shall724
    shall724 Posts: 18 Member
    So after searching and searching for a way to caculate my calories for my homeade greek yogurt...with no luck. finally came up with this and I think its got to be pretty close!

    I add up my total calories that I start with.
    example: one gallon 1% milk. 16 servings x 110 per serving = 1760.
    one small container fat free plain greek yogurt = 100

    total start= 1860

    after the process/ straining whey. measure the whey that is discarded. I strained about 8 cups of whey from my yogurt.

    whey is 59 cal. per cup x my 8 cups = 472

    take your beginning calories 1860 - 472 for the discarded whey= 1388 caloeies left

    now, there is 1388 calories in your batch of greek yogurt.

    I divided my batch into one cup servings and I had about 9 cups so divide calories!

    1388/9= 154 calories per cup! if course everyones will vary depending on what type if milk you start with and how long you drain it...but its pretty easy to calculate :)

    BUMP
  • ereckless82
    ereckless82 Posts: 85 Member
    shall724 wrote: »
    So after searching and searching for a way to caculate my calories for my homeade greek yogurt...with no luck. finally came up with this and I think its got to be pretty close!

    I add up my total calories that I start with.
    example: one gallon 1% milk. 16 servings x 110 per serving = 1760.
    one small container fat free plain greek yogurt = 100

    total start= 1860

    after the process/ straining whey. measure the whey that is discarded. I strained about 8 cups of whey from my yogurt.

    whey is 59 cal. per cup x my 8 cups = 472

    take your beginning calories 1860 - 472 for the discarded whey= 1388 caloeies left

    now, there is 1388 calories in your batch of greek yogurt.

    I divided my batch into one cup servings and I had about 9 cups so divide calories!

    1388/9= 154 calories per cup! if course everyones will vary depending on what type if milk you start with and how long you drain it...but its pretty easy to calculate :)

    I followed This exactly for my 1% homemade Greek yogurt that I've been making for almost 2 years now. I get about 6 6ounce portions from my batch (using 7.5 cups 1% milk and a couple of ounces of starter from my previous batch). It only comes out to about 2.8 g fat and 41 calories per serving. Nuts!
  • ohiotubagal
    ohiotubagal Posts: 190 Member
    Bumping to save
  • peanutblake
    peanutblake Posts: 1 Member
    edited December 2016
    shall724 wrote: »
    So after searching and searching for a way to caculate my calories for my homeade greek yogurt...with no luck. finally came up with this and I think its got to be pretty close!

    I add up my total calories that I start with.
    example: one gallon 1% milk. 16 servings x 110 per serving = 1760.
    one small container fat free plain greek yogurt = 100

    total start= 1860

    after the process/ straining whey. measure the whey that is discarded. I strained about 8 cups of whey from my yogurt.

    whey is 59 cal. per cup x my 8 cups = 472

    take your beginning calories 1860 - 472 for the discarded whey= 1388 caloeies left

    now, there is 1388 calories in your batch of greek yogurt.

    I divided my batch into one cup servings and I had about 9 cups so divide calories!

    1388/9= 154 calories per cup! if course everyones will vary depending on what type if milk you start with and how long you drain it...but its pretty easy to calculate :)

    I followed This exactly for my 1% homemade Greek yogurt that I've been making for almost 2 years now. I get about 6 6ounce portions from my batch (using 7.5 cups 1% milk and a couple of ounces of starter from my previous batch). It only comes out to about 2.8 g fat and 41 calories per serving. Nuts!
    This is nuts, considering 6 ounces of non-fat greek yogurt has more than twice the calories. Something's not jiving here. Additionally, 7.5 cups of 1% milk is around 750 calories, so you're missing over 500 calories. Some of these are lost in whey removal due to straining, but to account for 500 calories of whey you're missing, you would have to strain off more than 8 cups of whey, which is more liquid than you began with.
  • PIXI3
    PIXI3 Posts: 1 Member
    Concur, peanutblake... ereckless82 is looking at closer to the 100 calorie per serving range for 1% if quantities used are correct.
  • snarkleparkle
    snarkleparkle Posts: 2 Member
    How did shall724 come up with 59 calories per cup of whey?
  • snarkleparkle
    snarkleparkle Posts: 2 Member
    How was the calorie count of 59 for the whey determined?
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    How was the calorie count of 59 for the whey determined?

    She used the self.com database to find the calories in whey. She was discarding the whey so she wanted to subtract that from her yogurt. I just leave the whey in my yogurt and add chia seeds to thicken it.

    I log it with Ref:01116.usda.r28 - *#yogurt, Plain, Whole Milk, 8 Grams Protein Per 8 Ounce.
    Even though I use Jersey cow milk and it has 9 grams protein in 8 ounces, I'm not going to stress about 6 sigma precision on a food that I use once a week. As long as the database entry for has less sugar and thus less calories than the milk input, and the same number of grams of fat and protein, it's good enough for me.
  • kdplaskon
    kdplaskon Posts: 7 Member
    Just to add on here, there is little need to buy an expensive yogurt maker. For $12 I bought this 2 liter meal thermos, works perfectly. Heat milk to 190F (1.5 liter takes about 10 minutes in microwave), cool to 115F, add 1T active culture from plain yogurt per 2 cups milk, mix, pour, cap and wait 8-10 hours. For Greek yogurt take s strainer and coffee filter, dump the yogurt in and let it sit for 2-4 hours on countertop. Transfers to your storage container and chill. In the pic mine is fermenting now, this afternoon I'll transfer it to the strainer ( that is a filter for a large coffee maker 4.5" base)
  • debralindell
    debralindell Posts: 1 Member
    I calculated the number of calories in a gallon of whole milk as 1648.

    I then took the number of calories in a cup of whey (66).

    I had 7 cups of Greek yogurt after straining the whey out.

    16 cups of whole milk - 7 cups of yogurt = 9 cups of whey removed.

    9 x 66 = 594 whey calories removed.

    1648 - 594 = 1,054 calories left in my 7 cups of Greek yogurt.

    1,054 / 7 cups = 150.58 calories per cup of my homemade Greek yogurt.

  • fawnsorgi
    fawnsorgi Posts: 1 Member
    I appreciate the info. I’ve been making my own yogurt in my IP for about a year and I’ve been unsure how to do the calorie count particularly since I strain.
    I always use Fairlife Milk with a mix of starters to get a broad spectrum of bacteria. I strain until it’s pretty thick so I need to make sure I up the calorie content and don’t just go with the original calories per ounce.
  • juliachch
    juliachch Posts: 5 Member
    My concern would be, if I start with 1kg of homemade yoghurt with 3% fat, if I strain off 500g if whey, does this mean I now have a 6% fat yoghurt? Or does some of the fat strain off in the whey?
  • daneellaw
    daneellaw Posts: 1 Member
    Bump because a post that goes for over 10 years is awesome.